Bennett v. City of St. Joseph
Michigan Supreme Court
Error to Berrien; Coolidge, J. Case by Rebecca Bennett against the city of St. Joseph for personal injuries. There was judgment for plaintiff, and defendant brings error. The defendant city has 18 miles of cement sidewalks and 2 miles of board sidewalks. On one of its principal streets the cement walk was 10 feet wide, and was composed of two tiers of cement blocks or slabs, each block being five feet square.
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Error to Berrien; Coolidge, J. Case by Rebecca Bennett against the city of St. Joseph for personal injuries. There was judgment for plaintiff, and defendant brings error. The defendant city has 18 miles of cement sidewalks and 2 miles of board sidewalks. On one of its principal streets the cement walk was 10 feet wide, and was composed of two tiers of cement blocks or slabs, each block being five feet square. There was a depression in one place at the junction of the blocks, probably caused by the excavation of a sewer underneath, in refilling which the ground had not been solidly packed. The…
1Opinion of the CourtGrant, J.
(after stating the facts). Municipalities are not required to keep their streets and sidewalks absolutely smooth. There have always been depressions and elevations in both. A condition of reasonable safety is all that the law requires. This court has repeatedly held that depressions equal to, and deeper than, this, and elewations constituting as great, or greater, obstructions than this depression, do not constitute negligence on the part of municipalities. Jackson v. City of Lansing, 121 Mich. 279, and authorities there cited.
One of the plaintiff’s witnesses, a physician, on his direct…
2Cases cited1 opinion
- Jackson v. City of LansingMichigan Supreme Court · 1899
3Cited by12 opinions
- City of Tulsa v. FryeSupreme Court of Oklahoma · 1933
- Harris v. City of DetroitMichigan Supreme Court · 1962
- Northrup v. City of PontiacMichigan Supreme Court · 1909
- Smith v. City of TulsaSupreme Court of Oklahoma · 1935
- Cornell v. City of YpsilantiMichigan Supreme Court · 1920
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